Creatures of Habit
I'm actually missing blogging. Here I am, sitting in Studio 5 of KLPAC, waiting for M to finish her part of the rehearsal. Tapping away at my computer. It seems to have become a part of me, spilling the contents of my mind into the formless ether that is the internet. Either goes to show how much goes on inside my head, or how much time I have. Assuming the former, I really enjoy this "dumping". It really IS like taking a crap - all that accumulation, you gotta let it go. Sometimes it comes out really smoothly, like BANG profound thought exquisitely communicated. Sometimes, well, not so... eloquently. Variegated pebbles of thought, massive spurts of multicoloured ideas, irritating concepts that need to be squeezed out. The parallels to shitting are countless. Guess I've just proven how full of it I am, huh?
A huge challenge of being in a musical is the package we need to deliver. Individually, there's the acting singing moving/dancing. Being in character, singing in pitch & volume, being where you need to be, expressing whatever you need to express. As a group, we need to keep all that congruent - all our characters need to belong and make sense; our singing needs to be equally good (starting verses, pitch, volume, closing words, emphasis/accents); our movements and physicality need to make sense; and we all need to express something (a variety is fine - what you want to avoid is emotional blankness). My respect for musicals (and the ppl in them) have grown infinitely in the past few months.
We've recently been heavily drilled on our singing of the opening song, "Ipoh Town". As the opening, it has to be absolutely perfect, it has to be absolutely mind-blowing. Absolutely "grabbing by their short & curlies", as Joe would say. So we received hell from Pope-incumbent for about an hour, who, I was thinking, had to undo all the bad habits we'd picked up along the way and reinstall good habits which would make the song work. You see, He came in only quite some time after we had learned our songs - before that, we didn't have a vocal coach. So we learned to sing however we did (very unclearly) and that's been stuck with us since. Unfortunately, being human, we'd receive another dose of hell from God when we had to sing and move - the whole associating a movement with a way of singing thing. More reinstalling, then (Microsoft, anyone?). Reminds me of a quote from a decently intelligent fellow:
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit. - Aristotle
I am so grateful that we're having an awesome singer and actress open our opening number. You don't know what a contribution and an inspiration you are, ma'am. Thanks, Fang.
We've also received 2 pieces of very interesting news regarding our production:
1. We're going to perform in Ipoh! Slated for the last weekend of November, in their cultural hall (or something like that). 3 shows. Coolness! I think the writers are supremely chuffed at that news.
2. We're going to have a most august audience for our last Saturday show, which will also mark the official opening of KLPAC - Yang Amat Dudeness himself, Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi. How fucking cool is that?!? Not that I'm dying to meet him or anything - I haven't got any good ideas on how to transform Malaysia into THE global superpower yet - but it's a very tangible display that this show is really something big. Who knows, the show might even get extended...
An oooooold schoolmate of mine just contacted me telling me that she's enjoying my blog. Shock and horror. Thanks girl, you really did make my day. Furthermore, she added that she'd be in KL in Dec and hoped that Broken Bridges would still be on then. What faith. Who knows, right? So, to everyone out there, please give Uncle Lah a call to tell him to make BB the official musical of Malaysia with X number of shows every month, and we're sorted.
To my further shock and horror, we've been given more time off rehearsals. 2 whole Saturdays off. It's great yeah, can rest and get a much-much-needed massage, but really Joe, I think that's quite inconsiderate of you. I've completely settled into the fact that I have NO life (see what I'm doing now) and my friends only know me as IN THE COCKPIT. Now, there's the whole of Saturday to play with. AND Friday night too! Cyber cafe is no longer the only option! Crikey. I mean, really. What the hell am I supposed to do?!?
To all divers and nature lovers out there, in case you haven't heard, Sipadan is safe from myopic capitalist scum once again (click this if you're big into preserving Malaysia's natural heritage). Thank you very much Pak Lah! Bloody stupid asswipes lah the Sabah government. Honestly. Think about this: you have one of the best dive sites in the whole world (top 5, varies according to who's ranking it). You have a serious treasure-house of marine biodiversity - think an underwater rainforest. It is one super-killer of a tourist attraction. You get all the resorts on the island to fuck off, to protect the whole environment. Then, you turn evil (and excredibly stupid). You somehow lose the barracudas there (you can NOT believe the sight of these babies). You crash a monster barge into the corals. You decide to build a mama-resort ON Sipadan itself! Hallo?!?!?
Actually maybe that's something I'll ask Pak Lah for: to be the justice dispenser for the Sipadan fallacy. Judge, Jury and Executioner of the Sipadan Outrage. That would be an awesome name card. "Yes, I'm looking for the Minister of Stupid Decisions. No, I don't have an appointment. Here's my card. Yup, you are SCREWED MOTHERFUCKER!!! Evidence shows that you don't know you can't park a fucking barge on coral like a fucking construction lorry. I pronounce you guilty of abuse of nature and extreme stupidity, and sentence you to lifetime imprisonment in a tank of unhappy crabs." Aaahhhh... satisfaction.
Allow me to demonstrate the beauties of Sipadan.
This is how divers see it. Minus the cicak. That point's called Drop-Off because the land (slightly underwater) drops off to a depth of 2 km or so. That is Very Very Deep. Here are some common beauties you'll see:
Turtle
Clownfish
Reef shark
Porcupine fish
Bumphead parrotfish
And here's a bunch of things to make you go WTF?!?
Leaf fish
Some kind of Flat fish
Frog fish
Handsome buggers, aren't they? This is just a tiny sample of the kind of shit you'll see in Sipadan (plus Mabul & Kapalai, which are nearby islands). Let me tell you that diving is one hell of an experience. Spiritual, even. You HAVE to try it, especially if you're in Malaysia (it's so accessible lah!). You'll see things that will blow your mind, and you'll notice that sci-fi stuff aren't so way-out after all. Love it love it love it.
Ate at a place called Sticky Fingers over the weekend. Near No Black Tie, which is somewhere I really need to go sometime. They're famous for their ribs, which are pretty good. They do pork (melts off the bone, mmmm) and lamb (fatty yummy), in a multitude of sauces and VERY reasonably too. RM21 for half slab, RM28 for full (you WILL be full, too). Cheapest wine was RM80, had a red (can't remember ANY details) which was decent. Far better than the Rib Shop in Damansara Heights.
New Scientist explains why drinking beer is good for the planet. I'm off to save the world now.
A huge challenge of being in a musical is the package we need to deliver. Individually, there's the acting singing moving/dancing. Being in character, singing in pitch & volume, being where you need to be, expressing whatever you need to express. As a group, we need to keep all that congruent - all our characters need to belong and make sense; our singing needs to be equally good (starting verses, pitch, volume, closing words, emphasis/accents); our movements and physicality need to make sense; and we all need to express something (a variety is fine - what you want to avoid is emotional blankness). My respect for musicals (and the ppl in them) have grown infinitely in the past few months.
We've recently been heavily drilled on our singing of the opening song, "Ipoh Town". As the opening, it has to be absolutely perfect, it has to be absolutely mind-blowing. Absolutely "grabbing by their short & curlies", as Joe would say. So we received hell from Pope-incumbent for about an hour, who, I was thinking, had to undo all the bad habits we'd picked up along the way and reinstall good habits which would make the song work. You see, He came in only quite some time after we had learned our songs - before that, we didn't have a vocal coach. So we learned to sing however we did (very unclearly) and that's been stuck with us since. Unfortunately, being human, we'd receive another dose of hell from God when we had to sing and move - the whole associating a movement with a way of singing thing. More reinstalling, then (Microsoft, anyone?). Reminds me of a quote from a decently intelligent fellow:
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit. - Aristotle
I am so grateful that we're having an awesome singer and actress open our opening number. You don't know what a contribution and an inspiration you are, ma'am. Thanks, Fang.
We've also received 2 pieces of very interesting news regarding our production:
1. We're going to perform in Ipoh! Slated for the last weekend of November, in their cultural hall (or something like that). 3 shows. Coolness! I think the writers are supremely chuffed at that news.
2. We're going to have a most august audience for our last Saturday show, which will also mark the official opening of KLPAC - Yang Amat Dudeness himself, Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi. How fucking cool is that?!? Not that I'm dying to meet him or anything - I haven't got any good ideas on how to transform Malaysia into THE global superpower yet - but it's a very tangible display that this show is really something big. Who knows, the show might even get extended...
An oooooold schoolmate of mine just contacted me telling me that she's enjoying my blog. Shock and horror. Thanks girl, you really did make my day. Furthermore, she added that she'd be in KL in Dec and hoped that Broken Bridges would still be on then. What faith. Who knows, right? So, to everyone out there, please give Uncle Lah a call to tell him to make BB the official musical of Malaysia with X number of shows every month, and we're sorted.
To my further shock and horror, we've been given more time off rehearsals. 2 whole Saturdays off. It's great yeah, can rest and get a much-much-needed massage, but really Joe, I think that's quite inconsiderate of you. I've completely settled into the fact that I have NO life (see what I'm doing now) and my friends only know me as IN THE COCKPIT. Now, there's the whole of Saturday to play with. AND Friday night too! Cyber cafe is no longer the only option! Crikey. I mean, really. What the hell am I supposed to do?!?
To all divers and nature lovers out there, in case you haven't heard, Sipadan is safe from myopic capitalist scum once again (click this if you're big into preserving Malaysia's natural heritage). Thank you very much Pak Lah! Bloody stupid asswipes lah the Sabah government. Honestly. Think about this: you have one of the best dive sites in the whole world (top 5, varies according to who's ranking it). You have a serious treasure-house of marine biodiversity - think an underwater rainforest. It is one super-killer of a tourist attraction. You get all the resorts on the island to fuck off, to protect the whole environment. Then, you turn evil (and excredibly stupid). You somehow lose the barracudas there (you can NOT believe the sight of these babies). You crash a monster barge into the corals. You decide to build a mama-resort ON Sipadan itself! Hallo?!?!?
Actually maybe that's something I'll ask Pak Lah for: to be the justice dispenser for the Sipadan fallacy. Judge, Jury and Executioner of the Sipadan Outrage. That would be an awesome name card. "Yes, I'm looking for the Minister of Stupid Decisions. No, I don't have an appointment. Here's my card. Yup, you are SCREWED MOTHERFUCKER!!! Evidence shows that you don't know you can't park a fucking barge on coral like a fucking construction lorry. I pronounce you guilty of abuse of nature and extreme stupidity, and sentence you to lifetime imprisonment in a tank of unhappy crabs." Aaahhhh... satisfaction.
Allow me to demonstrate the beauties of Sipadan.
This is how divers see it. Minus the cicak. That point's called Drop-Off because the land (slightly underwater) drops off to a depth of 2 km or so. That is Very Very Deep. Here are some common beauties you'll see:Lionfish
Turtle
Clownfish
Reef shark
Porcupine fish
Bumphead parrotfish
Cuttlefish (seriously)
Leaf fish
Some kind of Flat fish
Frog fish
Handsome buggers, aren't they? This is just a tiny sample of the kind of shit you'll see in Sipadan (plus Mabul & Kapalai, which are nearby islands). Let me tell you that diving is one hell of an experience. Spiritual, even. You HAVE to try it, especially if you're in Malaysia (it's so accessible lah!). You'll see things that will blow your mind, and you'll notice that sci-fi stuff aren't so way-out after all. Love it love it love it.Ate at a place called Sticky Fingers over the weekend. Near No Black Tie, which is somewhere I really need to go sometime. They're famous for their ribs, which are pretty good. They do pork (melts off the bone, mmmm) and lamb (fatty yummy), in a multitude of sauces and VERY reasonably too. RM21 for half slab, RM28 for full (you WILL be full, too). Cheapest wine was RM80, had a red (can't remember ANY details) which was decent. Far better than the Rib Shop in Damansara Heights.
New Scientist explains why drinking beer is good for the planet. I'm off to save the world now.
posted by Jo at 7:02 pm
2 Comments:
babe, love reading your anecdotes (and no, i was not that oooollld friend!).
you never need any excuse for a beer! :) saving planet or not!!!
i so wish i could come & see u and maybel, is BB gonna be playing still up till CNY?
wishful thinking, but u never know...
Tell you what: get all your friends here to come for the show and make it a runaway success! Then we'll get KLPAC to do another show in CNY. Might work, considering they've put so much into the set and everything already.
And of course, if the male lead is busy then... well...
*runs off for singing classes*
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